Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Canon Pixma MP830 printer oddity

A few years ago I bought a really nice Canon Pixma MP830 printer/fax/scanner/copier for use in the motorhome. At that time the motorhome had a "doghouse" in between the driver and passenger seats and the printer fit there very well. I was very pleased with the printer and used it all the time. The only problem I had with taking it in the motorhome was that it weighed 33 lbs and it got tiring carrying it to the bedroom every day when we were getting ready to move down the road. It sure got heavy in a hurry then. It really got to be a chore for Gerry, but I didn't want to interfere with her "Pink" task.

In addition to operating as a printer,
scanner, and standalone copier, the Pixma MP830 offers such
office-oriented features as a 35-page automatic document feeder (ADF) to
process multipage documents, a built-in fax modem that lets it run as a
standalone fax machine, and two input trays to hold two different kinds
of paper at once (a maximum of 300 sheets). Canon's bundled software
also lets you fax directly from your PC.

The MP830 can print on and scan both sides of a page. It even gives
you the choice of copying from a two-sided original to a two-sided copy,
from a two-sided original to a one-sided copy, and from a one-sided
original to a two-sided copy—a rare find, particularly in an ink jet.
Interestingly, the MP830 will also let you scan a one- or two-sided
document to e-mail, automatically opening a new message for you and
including the scanned document as an attachment. Unfortunately, it won't
scan both sides of an original for standalone faxing. This isn't a problem for me since we don't have a dedicated phone line to use for the fax capability. PDF files work better and are easier to send and use.

The MP830 has a
PictBridge connector, for printing directly from PictBridge-enabled
cameras, and card slots paired with a 2.5-inch LCD, enabling you to
print from memory cards and use the LCD for previews.

It produces excellent color photos on a variety of paper sizes and is very fast printing them.

No, I am not selling my printer or working for Canon but I am pleased with the printer. A couple days ago the printer acted up and I couldn't turn it on. I suspected a blown fuse so I downloaded a manual to see where the fuse was located. No such luck. Then I went to the Canon users forum to see if anyone else had this problem. Yep, lot of people did over the years. There were a number of suggestions for solutions to the problem including the power supply, mother board replacement and a few others.

One suggestion didn't cost any money so I tried that one first. It was simple. Remove the power cord from the printer and let it sit for a couple hours like that. Humm, no way that will work, but it was cheap to try it. I forgot about the printer until later in the day and plugged it back in to a power outlet. Much to my surprise the printer lights went on and I was back in business. Now if I could just remember what I wanted to print.

It was cold and foggy all morning here at the cabin and it never got above 70 degrees all day. The overnight rain contributed to the fog and dampness and it seemed colder than it was. I took this opportunity to burn some papers and boxes in the fireplace and that helped warm up the cabin so it was comfortable. Time to start packing and get out of here before it gets colder. Actually, we have at least 7 more weeks before we plan on leaving but that could change.

There, now if you read this far you may be able to fix your printer if it doesn't want to turn on. If you do, just remember what you wanted to print.

I saw where Tucson got 1.84 inches of rain yesterday and the Santa Cruz river actually had water flowing in it. We've never seen water in the river in the past 8 years so that would have been a sight to see. All the washes were full to the brim and I imagine the low lying roads were under water. Maybe Ron K can chime in and let us know how it was out there.

I graduated from the University Of Maryland many years ago; however, I still follow their sports teams and root for them to do well. They have had some really great teams over the years and some down years. They joined up with NC, SC, VA Universities to found the Atlantic Coast Conference many years ago, but recently switched over to the Big Ten Conference. Their uniforms in the past few years have been eye openers and it seems they outdid themselves with the uniform for the upcoming game this Saturday. Check it out at the following address: Terp Uniforms

1 comment:

We didn't bring our printer with us this summer and so far so good. We replaced our heavy duty one with a newer, lighter, wireless one. I really hate it at times but we don't have to use it very often. We're in Indiana and we are supposed to get hit with rain and who knows what else today. AZ is going to wash away with all the rain they've gotten. And more to come. Love the Terp's uniform. They are really neat.